CBD Market Expected To Reach $2.1 Billion By 2020

The legal cannabis industry is rapidly expanding, and despite some of the unwarranted controversy clouding the market, it’s being viewed with more legitimacy than ever before. However, there’s one niche within the cannabis industry that’s projected to do especially well over the next couple of years—the widely untapped CBD market.

CBD Market Expected To Explode

According to Grand View Research, the worldwide medical cannabis market is projected to exceed $55.8 billion by 2025. As a result, the CBD market is expected to explode.

The Hemp Business Journal has estimated that the CBD market could reach $2.1 billion by the year 2020, with $450 million coming from hemp based-sources.

“The CBD Report is the culmination of more than a year of focused market research,” said Hemp Business Journal founder and publisher, Sean Murphy. “We’ve been to Israel, Europe, Canada and to farms, labs and retailers across the U.S. to cover the hemp industry. By analyzing consumer sales in the hemp and marijuana industries, we’ve provided the first view to investors, executives and regulators on what’s really happening with CBD, the hottest category in the broader multi-billion dollar cannabis industry.”

While the data for 2017 is not yet fully available, the $2.1 billion figure would be a 700 percent increase from the CBD market’s 2016 numbers, which were around $200 million.

Matt Karnes, a financial consultant for Greenwave Advisors, a company specializing in cannabis investing, projects an even higher ceiling for CBD in the near future.

“In terms of the CBD market size, I estimate an almost $3 billion market by 2021. Right now there are 15 states that allow CBD only—this is in addition to the 28 states plus DC that have legalized medical marijuana.”

Final Hit: CBD Market Expected To Reach $2.1 Billion By 2020

What makes CBD so appealing for medical patients, as well as investors, is that it doesn’t actually get its users “high,” like a traditional cannabis plant. CBD or cannabidiol, is the non-psychoactive component of cannabis. Most forms of CBD-based drugs contain little to no THC, the component known for its psychoactive effects.

Due to its harmless nature, CBD legalization has been ramping up in recent years. States, and even countries, that are still behind the eight-ball on cannabis legalization have begun to start legalizing CBD for medicinal purposes.

However, despite its non-psychoactive tendencies and increasing legality, there are question marks surrounding how the government views CBD. While it isn’t explicitly mentioned in the Controlled Substances Act, the DEA still considers it a Schedule I narcotic, like cannabis.

Unfortunately for consumers, government restrictions currently make it difficult for users to become educated on CBD and its plethora of medicinal uses.

But despite government sanctions, CBD use continues to grow.

According to a recent report, CBD use in the UK has more than doubled since it was legalized for medical use last October. Additionally, it appears like it’s garnering traction among non-cannabis users as well. According to a poll from Outco, one of the biggest licensed cultivators in Southern California, 38 percent of users and non-users said that they wanted to learn more about CBD oil.

With CBD becoming more and more of a viable form of medication, a $2.1 billion figure almost seems modest.

Tim Kohut is Green Rush Daily Staff Writer hailing from New York. His hobbies include (but are not limited to) eating eggs, owning far too many cats, and watching Rob Schneider films. He’s a self-taught expert in the cannabis industry and hopes to share his vast knowledge with fellow weed-enthusiasts around the world.